Madcon

Madcon is a music duo made of Kapricon (real name Tshawe Baqwa) and Critical (real name Yosef Wolde-Mariam). Kapricon is a German born artist of South African heritage while Critical was born in Norway and is of Ethiopian and Eritrean heritage. The duo, whose name is short for Mad Conspiracy, made a name for themselves in 2002 when they featured as guests of award-winning Norwegian rap duo the Paperboys on the Top Ten hit single 'Barcelona'.

In the wake of this breakthrough success, Madcon signed a recording contract with the Paperboys' label, Bonnier Amigo, and proceeded to release their full-length debut album in 2004 titled 'It's All a Madcon'. The album spawned a series of singles, most notably the Top 20 hits 'Doo-Wop' and 'Infidelity'. The songs earned them a household name and established them as one of Norway's leading rap acts.

In 2007, the they scored an international smash hit with 'Beggin', a song originally performed in 1967 by the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli. The song as far as topping the Norwegian singles chart. It was also number seven in Austria, number 11 in Sweden and number 33 Switzerland. This was shortly followed by the release of another album in 2007 tilted 'So Dark the Con of Man'. The album was well-received and took the third position on the Norwegian albums chart.

In the same year, Madcon enjoyed television publicity, they hosted their own show 'The Voice of Madcon'. Their success continued in 2008 with the release of a hit single called 'Back on The Road'. The single featured on their third album 'An Inconvenient Truth'. They returned two years later with a single titled 'Glow' which launched the 2010 Oslo Eurovision Song Contest as flash mobs danced to the song live across Europe.

The single was a hit and was shortly followed by full-length Contraband, which made it to number two in the Norwegian charts. After another two-year break, they launched a fifth album 'Contakt'. The album was well-received in their homeland, with every track sung in Norwegian. In 2013, they released a single called 'One Life', the single featured former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland.